C&EN interviews UCLA Organic Chemistry Prof. Hosea Nelson "The Quest To Make Any Molecule: Total Synthesis with Hosea Nelson"

Post date: Sep 17, 2016 12:38:44 AM

Stoltz and Nelson total synthesis of (+)-Transtaganolide B Original Article in Angew Chemie Summary

The medicinal properties of plants from the genus Thapsia, more commonly known as the “deadly carrot” (shown), have been known for centuries. As a grad student at Caltech, Nelson worked out an elegant five-step synthesis of the transtaganolides, a family of compounds isolated from Thapsia. The natural products could be useful in treating malaria, African sleeping sickness, and certain cancers.